European Security and Defence Policy: A Study on Sweden's Possibilities for Influence

The aim of the report is to discuss how Sweden can influence the European Security and Defence Policy, ESDP, within the EU. Using a state centric perspective, the report examines the possibilities for influence over ESDP for small states in particular. Nine areas are identified, where Member States can act to improve their possibilities for influence. Using there nine areas, the author discusses how Sweden especially can use its national resourses to gain influence. ESDP is presented as a process composed of both formal and informal structures. In this dynamic and constantly developing environment there is room for new ideas on ways forward. Sweden´s influence in such a process is not only a question of how the state acts in a negotiation situation. It is also a question of Sweden´s relationships with other Member States and with the institutions of the Union, as well as how Sweden handles the military capacity contribution as a potential source of influence.